diff --git a/src/Runner.Worker/ActionManager.cs b/src/Runner.Worker/ActionManager.cs
index 04112b533be..b11b6994785 100644
--- a/src/Runner.Worker/ActionManager.cs
+++ b/src/Runner.Worker/ActionManager.cs
@@ -1127,8 +1127,16 @@ private ActionSetupInfo PrepareRepositoryActionAsync(IExecutionContext execution
             }
             else
             {
-                var fullPath = IOUtil.ResolvePath(actionEntryDirectory, "."); // resolve full path without access filesystem.
-                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Can't find 'action.yml', 'action.yaml' or 'Dockerfile' under '{fullPath}'. Did you forget to run actions/checkout before running your local action?");
+                var reference = repositoryReference.Name;
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(repositoryReference.Path))
+                {
+                    reference = $"{reference}/{repositoryReference.Path}";
+                }
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(repositoryReference.Ref))
+                {
+                    reference = $"{reference}@{repositoryReference.Ref}";
+                }
+                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Can't find 'action.yml', 'action.yaml' or 'Dockerfile' for action '{reference}'.");
             }
         }